BOSTON GOLF EXPO:
GAMBLED AND WON
by Sue Fracker, FINDaLESSON.com
I've never been to Boston. I've lived vicariously thanks to Bobby Donnell and his feisty colleagues over at The Practice, but seeing it firsthand is quite another story. Or should I say hearing it. It seems many of the r's in Boston have been carefully removed from the middle of some words and gently added to the ends of others. You'd think this would achieve an acceptable balance, if it weren't for those pesky words that are supposed to end in r, but around here (heah), they don't.
By the way, Worcester is Woostah. Dorchester is not Doostah. It's Dorchester. Go figure.
Once accustomed to the language, I felt a certain kinship with New Englanders. It was evident they love to golf, and of course, ski. Being a Michigandah most of my life, I could relate. Elaine would chuckle at this one, considering I've only skiied twice and keep finding ways to discourage invitations to the mountain. But the golf part makes sense, and I know what snow looks like. Consequently, there was never a lack for conversation in Booth 1245 and 1247 as we greeted thousands of locals attending the annual Boston Golf Expo this February.
Mary Pohtah (Porter, for my fellow Midwesterners), editor and publisher of Tee Time Magazine, graciously hosted Elaine and I in her spacious booth featuring comfortable wicker furniture, well-placed spot lighting, foliage, and to many a child's delight, helium balloons. A 6-foot banner welcomed Elaine Crosby, LPGA Tour Player and invited passersby to meet her. We strung up the FINDaLESSON.com banners as well and began another weekend in a not-so-strange town promoting the site.
It was not a difficult task. Within a couple of hours, I, too, was referring to our site as FIND a LESSON dawt cawm. When in Rome.
The show was bustling with would-be golfahs from the start. Even after an eight hour shift on Friday and with blustery winds moving in, Saturday morning brought a crowd outside the Bayside Expo Center that stretched half a dozen people deep across the entrance waiting to get in. Nary a visitor to the show left without a new club or some other game-changing device. I was reminded again of how many people, regardless of gender, size, age, race or religion simply love the game.
Could it have something to do with gambling? Hmmm.
This occurred to me when I realized those windows off to the left of our booth were not part of the building. Upon closer inspection, they materialized and suddenly belonged to the side of a bus. They were the dark tinted windows of an enormous charter bus display inside the exhibit hall, one that featured road trips called something like "Golf and Gamble." I started noticing other things I hadn't before. Chipping contest: 5 balls for $2. Putting contest: 6 tries for $3. Million dollar hole-in-ones. Free Chevy Tahoe - Register to Win. What would you do with $50,000 cash? Enter to win it! And so on.
Booth after booth, they were asking you to take a chance. Fill out the form. What do you have to lose? You could be on the next plane to Myrtle Beach, clubs in hand. Once there, maybe take that bus back and gamble somewhere along the way. Up and down the "fairways" of the Show I marched - the Maine Fairway, Vermont Fairway, New Hampshire Fairway, even Canada had a Fairway. The Manufacturer's Fairway, the Ladies Fairway, and so on. Many seemed intent on catching your attention with some sort of gamble.
Golf itself is no stranger to the wager, of course - even Lee Trevino remarked that the greatest pressures of the game are felt when you're playing for $6 and you only have $2 in your pocket. I, too, have approached many an 18th green, cigar smoke lingering, where I suspected money had changed hands and moods for someone that day. Can't say I haven't won or lost a couple of bucks here and there myself, so it seems only fitting that betting would find its way into the promotion of golf courses, resorts, equipment, attire and the game itself.
I wish I had been witness to a winner, naturally, but none presented himself. While cruising the various booth contests, I saw plenty of sculls, shanks, whiffs, yips, pulls, pushes and want-me-to-hold-your-purse-next-time-Alices to make me question the wisdom of betting on your game. Maybe that's why it always starts out as a "friendly" wager. Golfers are a funny lot, lamenting their limitations with a sigh one minute, seen purchasing yet another souped-up driver the next. There's always hope. Every time you tee it up.
Boston
area golfers proved to be as enthusiastic a group you'd find on a chilly
weekend in February. Elaine was well-received in her four stage demos,
three of which she led with the assistance of Catherine Luchini Gerson,
an area physical therapist. Elaine and Catherine walked the audience
through the importance of stretching prior to the round, and Elaine
especially noted how important it is to develop a consistent and reliable
pre-shot routine, even
for amateurs. She fielded with grace countless inquiries about grip
pressure, alignment and even those tricky gender questions: Which is
better, a male or a female teacher?
We could pose that question to the nearly 1000 teachers we have in our directory, including those whom we were pleased to meet face-to-face at the Boston Show. Doug Ruttle of Mt. Washington might argue that women at least make better students as he is currently working on developing a unique golf school program for women at his resort. We also ran into Rich Setter, Director of Golf at the Stratton Golf School in Stratton Mountain, Vermont - the largest golf school in the northeast. Canadian PGA Professional, Pierre Brisebois was there as well, touting his beautiful Tremblant Academy, which just opened in May 2000 and has already served nearly 1800 students. He and his talented staff expect to assist over 3000 this year.
The boys from City Golf of Boston were hanging at the back wall of the Expo, providing swing analysis via the A/STAR video system to show attendees. Brian O'Hearn says they were slammed all weekend and are looking forward to continued success this year at their first-rate indoor golf instruction and practice facility. Joe Keefe, well-known North Attleboro golf pro and radio personality was one of the first Massachusetts professionals to sign up for our directory. He stopped by the booth just to say hi. We also met a number of teaching professionals who intend to add themselves to FINDaLESSON.com, including Joseph Rossello, who signed up on-line right at our booth, and of course, we snapped a photo!
As much as we've traveled in the last three weeks, Elaine and I were reminded again of what makes a whirlwind tour easy: people. Boston was no exception; FINDaLESSON.com will be even better for having stopped there.
Plus, we finally learned the right way to pronounce things.
Sue
Fracker is the Vice President of Marketing for FINDaLESSON.com,
a not so hi-tech web site approaching 1000 teaching professionals in
numbers.
Elaine Crosby, LPGA Tour player, is founder
and CEO of FINDaLESSON.com.
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